"I did what I thought was the right thing for our country," he said in a statement moments after the vote. "I sought out a compromise position that I thought could move the ball forward on an important matter of public safety. My only regret is that our amendment did not pass. It’s not the outcome I hoped for, but the Senate has spoken on the subject, and it’s time to move on."

In the contentious days before the vote, the Lehigh Valley Republican tried to convey the merits of the amendment repeatedly from the Senate floor, conducted conference calls with reporters, lined up support from some gun rights groups, and worked the phones in the final hours before the roll call.

“Instead of supporting this compromise, the gun lobby and its' allies willfully lied about the bill,” Obama said in an impassioned speech. “They claimed that it would create some sort of Big Brother gun registry even though the bill did the opposite.

“This legislation in fact outlawed any registry, plain and simple right there in the text,” he added. “But that didn't matter, and unfortunately this pattern of spreading untruths about the legislation served a purpose, because those lies upset an intense minority of gun owners. And that in turn intimidated a lot of senators.”

'This isn't gun control'

Both senators could see the downfall of their amendment days before the vote was even taken.

Earlier in the week, Manchin spoke of “outside pressure” and legislators' incessant worry of “getting elected” as he cajoled his colleagues from the Senate floor.

“The only thing I'm asking my colleagues who've heard something, or been told something, or gotten threatening phone calls is to read the bill,” he said Monday. “It's only 49 pages long.”

But for the powerful gun lobby and Second Amendment purists, that was 49 pages too many.

That condemnation came even as Toomey continued to point to the cadre of support he'd mustered, including the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the Independent Firearm Owners Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, and York businessman and conservative benefactor Scott Wagner.

“This isn't gun control,” Toomey said from the Senate floor moments before the vote. “This is common sense.”

But as the measure slipped off life support Wednesday afternoon, a Senate GOP amendment focusing primarily on punishing violent criminals suggested that the downfall of Toomey's bipartisan proposal may have been that it was too bipartisan.

“I urge my colleagues to reject this dangerous and misguided approach,” said U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who introduced the all-GOP alternative amendment Wednesday.

The impact on Toomey

The conclusion of Toomey's misadventure into an unfamiliar policy arena marks his second high-profile failure since entering the Senate in 2010.

Emboldened, the staunch budget hawk forged ahead, attempting to dialogue with Democrats in a highly partisan capital. He won plaudits from most of the left, condemnation from some corners of the right, but failed to find their common ground.

That stalemate, coupled with Wednesday's gun control shortfall, could leave Toomey looking like a Washington pariah. After all, some lawmakers might be leery of future collaborations with a colleague who dreams, tries and fails very big.

But political observers from both sides of the ideological aisle say Toomey has helped his reputation, not hurt it.

“If anything, in this instance he's taken on a very difficult battle and he's really shown great fortitude in stepping forward, especially given the electoral politics of Pennsylvania,” said Ron Klink, a former Democratic congressman from Pittsburgh.

Klink alluded to the ignominious 1968 defeat of incumbent U.S. Sen. Joe Clark.

“He was essentially defeated because of gun control,” said Klink, referencing the widely held belief that the Philadelphia Democrat's support of gun control and opposition to the Vietnam war led to his six-point defeat to Republican Richard Schweiker.

Former GOP Erie congressman Phil English also referenced the Clark-Schweiker race as a cautionary tale for Toomey.

“Knowing the history in the state of Pennsylvania, there's no calculus by which this is the politically easy thing for Pat Toomey to do,” English said.

“My instinct is that Pat Toomey is going to be very strong in a Republican primary,” English said. “There are some people on this issue who may be unforgiving of any deviation, but I think in the end Pat Toomey is likely to be more pro-Second Amendment than any Democrat he runs against.”

* This post has been updated to include comments from President Obama.

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